ZCC launch "I pray! I vote!" programme - to what end and purpose if elections are rigged Nomusa Garikai

“The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), an association of Christians from mainline denominations, has urged political parties participating in the July 30 elections to uphold the fundamental values of the country’ s Constitution,” reported The Zimbabwean.

“ZCC yesterday launched a programme called I Pray I Vote in Masvingo. The programme seeks to promote peace and sanity before, during and after the July 30 elections.”

ZCC has failed to pressure President Mnangagwa and his junta regime to implement the democratic reforms which, if implemented, would have guaranteed peaceful, free, fair and credible elections.

With no reforms in place the best we can hope for now is the peace will hold. The elections are NOT going to be free, fair and credible; not when there is no free public media, when ZEC has failed to produce clean and verified voters’ roll, when Zanu PF has been robbing the nation blind to bankroll its vote rigging schemes, etc., etc.

When the children of Israel left Egypt to go to the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey, they not only faced the challenge of the physical journey itself they also fought many, many battles along the way. They were being led by one of the holiest man to ever walk this earth, Moses.

They must have been tempted to say; “Why are we bothering ourselves with all the physical challenges of tracking across the desert and risking serious injuries and our very lives fighting? We must ask Moses to pray for us; so, God removes all these challenges. After all we are the chosen people!”  

We know the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land was full of trials and tribulations and even after getting they have to this day faced many problems because such is life. The moral of the story of Exodus is “God will not do for mankind what mankind can do for himself!”

“I pray!” Pray for God to demanding of President Mnangagwa, Mugabe before him, to implement the democratic reforms because ZCC will not dare or are too lazy to demand the reforms themselves? Sadly not even one democratic reforms has ever been implemented and so Zanu PF has blatantly rigged elections in the past and is rigging these elections too.

“I vote!” To what end and purpose, if the elections are rigged?

If we are serious about ending the criminal waste of the nation’s human and material resources behind the economic meltdown and tragic human suffering and deaths; then we must take our duties and responsibilities to build a justice and prosperous Zimbabwe with the seriousness the task demands.

Praying to God to do for us what we are too lazy to do for ourselves is what landed us into this hell-on-earth and there we will remain until we learn to do our homework!  

ZEC launch peace committees but admit they have "no legal basis" - no body to be kicked or soul to be damned N Garikai

ZEC has launched the Multi-party Liaison Committees with the usual fun fare but readily acknowledge they toothless guard dogs!

“The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has intensified its preparations for the 2018 Harmonised Elections,” said the ZEC statement.

“In a bid to resolve conflicts the Commission has set up Multi-party Liaison Committees (MPLC) countrywide. These Committees shall work for the good of all stakeholders, especially political parties in the run-up to elections as intra-party and inter-party conflicts inevitably happen during this period. Of importance to note is the function of the Committees meant to bring peace and harmony in communities.

“These Committees have no legal basis (my emphasis) to usurp the powers of the Commission but enable the Commission to act as a referee in conflict resolution efforts.”

These committees are being asked to help keep the peace and yet they have no legal powers and authority to investigate, arrest, detain, charge, and bring before a court of law anyone disturbing the peace. Indeed, not even a report from anyone of these MPLCs is even the paper it is written on!

So, why do we need political parties to first sign this Peace Pledge and now have all these MPLCs?

Simple! President Mnangagwa and his junta do not want to give up any of their dictatorial powers and so instead on implementing the far-reaching democratic reforms that would restore the Police’s power to keep the peace the regime is settling for Peace Pledge, etc. - a fig-leaf.

For all his post November coup posturing as the peace-maker and promising to hold free, fair and credible elections; President Emerson Mnangagwa has no intention of giving up even one of Zanu PF’s multi-faceted carte blanche dictatorial powers including the powers to rig elections.

Of all the politicians, President Mnangagwa knows what a useful and effective option violence has been in Zanu PF’s vote rigging schemes. However, this year he has clearly decided to take off his boot off the violence pedal for one very good; he is not 100% confident that the Police and CIO will play their traditional supportive role of turning a blind eye to Zanu PF inspired violence much less join in the harassment and lawless thuggery. It is no secret that most Police and CIO officers supported G40 faction and not Mnangagwa’s Lacoste faction.

President Mnangagwa has not implemented any of the democratic reforms to restore independence and powers of these two the Police and CIO, at least. He certainly does not want them nosing around his other vote rigging activities.

No opposition politician worth his salt would even bother sign the Peace Pledge much less have anything to do with these utterly useless MPLCs. If they are ever caught up in any politically motivated violence, then they must report the incident to the Police and insist in getting the report number and as much other related details. The Zimbabwe Republic Police are a legal entity, with the legal obligation to keep the peace, law and order in Zimbabwe and, per se, can be sued for dereliction of duty if they fail to do so. MPLCs are just groups of egotistic busy bodies with no legal body to be kicked or soul to be damned!

The real tragedy here is that Zimbabwe is in a serious economic mess; with unemployment a dizzying 90%, ¾ of the population are now living on US$1.00 or less a day, etc.; are the only way out is for the country to have a competent government. So instead of President Mnangagwa implementing the democratic reforms and hold free, fair and credible elections – the pre-requisite for competent and accountable government – he is wasting time on these MPLC political gimmicks to hide his vote rigging activities.

These elections should not be taking place without first implementing the democratic reform; they are not going to be free, fair and credible and must therefore be declared null and void. Zimbabwe must then revisit the raft of democratic reforms agreed in 2008 and make sure they are implemented this time.

Zimbabwe has been dying for good and competent government to get out of this hell-hole we have been stuck in for the last 38 years. All we must do to get out is to implement the democratic reforms and the rest will fall into place.

"There is no water, don't pay your bills," argue Chiwenga - certain to make things worse P Guramatunhu

"There is no water, council has failed to collect refuse and there is no sewer reticulation, but daily, they come knocking on your doors demanding payment for things they have failed to deliver. That must stop forthwith," VP Chiwenga said.

This speaks volume of what kind of leader VP Chiwenga is: he has clearly accepted that people can live without clean running water, no sewage system and with mountains of rubbish everywhere, in this day and age.

What is called for here is a situation where even those who are failing to pay their bills should never have their water supply cut off because this is an essential commodity. No one should ever be forced to live with no clean running water in this day and age. VP Chiwenga’s advice that people stop paying their council bills is a vote buying gimmick which will only lead to even the existing very poor services disappearing altogether.

This idiotic mentality by VP Chiwenga can be extending to central government where Zanu PF has ruled uninterrupted for the last 38 years. VP has clearly accepted the reality of unemployment soaring to 90%, to ¾ of the population living on US$1.00 or less a day, to education and health services that has all but collapsed, etc., etc.

We are in this economic mess because for the last 38 years the nation has been ruled by a gang of corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs who do not have even a shred of common sense. The nation has been stuck with this Zanu PF dictatorship only because the thugs have rigged elections to stay in power.

In the 38 years, the nation has had many opportunities to end the Zanu PF dictatorship but has wasted them all. The best opportunity, by a long mile, fall to Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends during the 2008 to 2013 GNU; all they had to do was to implement the raft democratic reforms SADC had already forced Mugabe and Zanu PF to agree to.

Sadly, as soon as Tsvangirai et al tasted power they, just like Mugabe and his cronies before them, they became the proverbial cockroach who gorged himself in the milk and forgot to carry out the task he was asked. MDC leaders failed to implement even one reform in five years. Not even one!

Nations get the government they deserve, and we certainly deserve this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship complete with multitude of corrupt and incompetent opposition parties. Instead of paying meticulous attention in the election of leaders we have been contend with the brain dead. If you are contended with brain dead VP Chiwenga then you will have no clean running water, live on US$ 1.00 a day, etc.

In four weeks-time the people of Zimbabwe will be supposedly electing a new government. I say, supposedly, because they are just going through the motion to confirm the pre-determined result – another landslide victory for the vote rigging Zanu PF. With not even one democratic reform in place it is clear that Zanu PF will blatantly rig these elections as it has always done.

It is very disappointing that it has been outsiders, the Americans, AU, etc., who have been demanding free, fair and credible elections and not the Zimbabweans themselves. Most Zimbabweans are locked up in their own cloud-cuckoo-land; they are cocksure that this time they will win the rigged elections.

Those holding public office are there to service the commonwealth and not their selfish interests. By encouraging the people to stop paying their council bills VP Chiwenga is going to destroy the already very poor water supply, refuse collection, etc. there is. How can having no clean running, etc. be in the public interest? But until we clean-up our political system to ensure free, fair and credible elections, we will be stuck with brain dead leaders like V P Chiwenga.

These elections are not free, fair and credible because no meaningful reforms were implemented before the elections. These elections must be declared null and void!